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Oct. 1, 2007
Squanto? Never heard of him.
John and I teach children's church a few times a month and yesterday it was our turn. We were talking about the idea that God sometimes takes bad things and uses them for good. Our story was Daniel in the Lion's Den and to illustrate the point further, I shared the story of Squanto.
When I asked how many had learned about Squanto in school, only the Christian school/homeschool kids raised their hands. I have some very bright 3rd graders in this class and I'm always amazed at how much they do know but this time the response was, "Never heard of him."
I shared how Squanto initially went to England for the experience of it. When he wanted to come home, he spent many months trying to find passage. He finally got back to America only to be taken against his will right back to Europe without ever getting to see his family. He spent another few years again finding a ship that could take him home and when he finally got back, he found his entire tribe had been wiped out by disease. How very tragic and yet if Squanto had been with his tribe, he would have likely died too. Without his help, who knows if the Pilgrims would have survived their second winter in the New World.
The kids had heard of the Pilgrims and they new about the first Thanksgiving but I think our schools today are leaving out much of our Christian heritage.
If you know any curriculum developers out there, I would love for someone to write a Children's Church curriculum which illustrated the Biblical truth of the week with stories from American history. I think Christianity has pretty much been written out of the history curriculum in our schools so it may be time we write history into our church curriculum. I am certainly going to be more aware of this as I prepare my lessons for Children's Church.
In the past, I have typically tried to illustrate as much as I can using science. The kids love to see little feats of scientific magic and it is so important to demostrate how all of the principles of the universe were designed by God and didn't happen by chance.
Of course I realize that in the one hour a week we have for children's church, it is impossible to adequately present the flip side what they are taught in school. However, I think it is worth a concerted effort to present the Christian worldview in the areas of Science and History as much as we can.
Some of the staff in the homeschool program we joined this year are not Christians. I was talking with a teacher there and the subject came up of Columbus day. She remarked to me, "Isn't it amazing that we dedicate a day to someone who made so many mistakes?"
I thought to myself how her views must seep into her teaching and how the children in her classes would automatically accept these views as truth. Obviously this is one of the big reason people homeschool and it was a huge red flag that reminded me just how selective we have to be in choosing teachers and classes in this homeschool program.
In the past, even public school curriculum taught the facts about the influence of Christianity on the founding of America and in all eras since. Today, I don't think that is the case. We know that science curriculum now presents evolution as the one accepted explanation for the origin of the life.
The church didn't have to concentrate on these areas in the past because everyone got the teaching in school. With things as they are now, I think it is time we integrate what we previously considered academic areas of science and history into our Bible teaching.
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My Blog
A few years ago, when our oldest was 4 and her two brothers were both in diapers, my in-laws were a few days into a visit from their home 3000 miles away when my father-in-law noticed that the rug under the dining room table was in serious need of vacuuming. He is not prone to domestic duties (his wife is a great housekeeper) but seeing the need, he decided to try his hand with the Hoover. As soon as 'Grandpa' declared his intention to get out the vacuum, four little feet ran for the toy box to get vacuums of their own. We had one toy vacuum and we improvised a second from a 'popper' push toy. The baby, who was not yet walking, was right in the thick of things on all fours, never one to be left out. Grandpa, trying to maneuver the self-propelled 'Wind-tunnel' around the 10 foot rug while avoiding the table legs and dodging his three little helpers, remarked in exasperation, "I just wanted to clean the rug, I wasn't looking to start a three ring circus." Welcome to my life!
About Me
My name is Tiffany. I am a 39 year old mother of 4. My husband, John, and I planned to homeschool even before we married 17 years ago but it would be several years before our oldest would be ready to start on this journey. We had our children in alphabetical order, quite by accident at first, but once we got started, we figured we had to keep it going. They are Alyssa 10, Brendan 8, Chase 6, and Emily 3. Our 4th baby, D, miscarried at 13 weeks. We have no intention of making it to Z.
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Curriculum/Activities
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K4
Sing, Spell, Read & Write K
Saxon Math K
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K5
Sing, Spell, Read & Write 1
Horizons Math K
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2nd Grade
Pathway Readers 2
Bob Jones Math 3
ACE English/Word Building
Beautiful Feet History
Apologia Astronomy
AWANA Sparks
AWANA Grand Prix
Sparks-A-Rama
Brownie Scouts
Piano
Soccer
Softball
3rd Grade
Pathway Readers 3
Saxon Math 54
Abeka Language 3
Spelling Power
Beautiful Feet History
Apologia Astronomy/Botany
AWANA T&T
Brownie Scouts
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Soccer
Softball
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K4
100 Easy Lessons Reading
Saxon Math K
AWANA Cubbies
Floor Gymnastics
T-ball
K5
Sing, Spell, Read & Write K
Alpha Omega Math K
AWANA Sparks
AWANA Grand Prix
Soccer
T-ball
1st Grade
Sing, Spell, Read & Write 1
Pathway Readers 1
Bob Jones Math 1
ACE English/Word Building
Beautiful Feet History
Apologia Astronomy
AWANA Sparks
AWANA Grand Prix
Sparks-A-Rama
Soccer
Baseball - Silver Medal Team
2nd Grade
Pathway Readers 2
Bob Jones Math 2
Abeka Language 2
Spelling Power
Beautiful Feet History
Apologia Astronomy/Botany
AWANA Sparks
Soccer
Baseball
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K4
100 Easy Lessons Reading
Sing, Spell, Read & Write K
Saxon Math K
Beautiful Feet History
Apologia Astronomy/Botany
AWANA Cubbies
Soccer
T-ball
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No music at the moment
Enjoy the silence.
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Oct. 2, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Ruth