Wednesday, November 25, 2009 - Preparing our Hearts and Minds

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Aside from Thanksgiving, this weekend also marks the beginning of Advent.  
I had never formally celebrated Advent while growing up. 

Yes, my (non-denom) church did a wonderful job of celebrating Christmas itself, but since it was a Bible church - we methodically studied a book of the Bible verse by verse until it was finished - no matter what the time of year.  (I'll admit, I learned a lot that way!)  They also did a great job of celebrating the birth of Christ.  But in the weeks before Christmas, it was typically 'business as usual.'   (There is nothing wrong with that, and some people thrive in that type of church, but as someone who LOVES Christmas...I wished we would focus on it a bit more....)

Then I got married and changed denominations.
Our current church follows a liturgical calendar :  Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week/Easter, Pentecost, End Times...and then the cycle starts all over again.
I have found that I really love this cycle.

It  focuses on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus,
and it allows me to focus on what that part of His life meant
in terms of God's eternal plan for our salvation.

And now we begin the season of Advent. 
The time when we reflect on Jesus's birth, and we prepare our hearts and minds
 for the 'advent' of the long awaited Messiah.

We don't do an Advent wreath in our house, (burning candles and preschoolers - not a good combo!) but we do 'prepare' with other activities such as:
reading books about Christmas,
learning Advent hymns,
having special daily devotions,
and making a Jesse Tree

Some of my favorite books for Advent are:

One Wintry Night  (By Ruth Bell Graham) 
This book has beautiful illustrations, and goes from creation through the resurrection.  
It tells of our need for a Saviour, and why Jesus came.

Other favorites are
Mary's First Christmas, by  Walter Wangerin Jr.

The Very First Christmas, by Paul L. Maier
Another book that we have liked is  - Countdown to Christmas
It comes as a 'kit' and it has a daily devotion with a corresponding ornament for that day.
(We have a little table-top Christmas tree that we hang these on.)

But I think even more preferred over the above book, is making a Jesse Tree.
The kids really love doing this, and I think that having them draw the ornaments themselves makes it all the more special.  I really feel like we are not only preparing our hearts - but we are making wonderful family memories as well.

Here are a few links that I have used over the years for our Jesse Tree devotions
*(Note - I have NO affiliation to any of these churches/denominations - and so I am not sure about any doctrinal content on these sites.   We do use their Bible reading schedules, and some have printable ornament templates....just in case you don't want to make your own. )

This one is my favorite for younger kids
http://www.rca.org/Page.aspx?pid=1628

And I like this one for slightly older kids
http://www.cresourcei.org/jesse.html

This one has some ornaments to download/print
http://www.eriercd.org/jessetree.htm

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Tuesday, November 24, 2009 - Katie

I haven't blogged about Katie's progress in school for awhile - so I thought I'd post a little update on how she's doing.

Her neurological issues, are still present, although she is finding ways of coping with them better.   Thanks to her braces, her tiptoe walking has greatly improved.  She is able to go for much longer periods without her braces now, and only occasionally do I catch her up on her toes.  
Her tremors and speech are what challenge her the most now - and I think she is at the point where she realizes she is 'different'.  It has shaken her self-confidence a little.  I need to be extra patient and encouraging with her while she does her lessons, as she gets discouraged quite easily.    :-(

We've really been focusing on phonics lately.   CLE's Learning to Read program is going great, and Katie is reading several 3 and 4 letter words, and even sounding out a few simple sentences.

She is getting better at listening for beginning/middle/end sounds in a word, although it still poses a challenge to her.    Rhyming is also quite difficult for her.For further practice in decoding words - we are using Explode the Code.
Pages like this are frustrating for her, and it can take her several minutes to 'sound out' just one sentence.  :-(
I have recently discussed with her pediatrician the possibility of having her tested for specific learning disorders, so that I can better know how to help her with her work.

One area that she actually does very well in is penmanship! 
She loves to do her Handwriting Without Tears workbook, or write/draw in her journal.
(Quite the opposite of Joseph - LOL.)

(For her journal she narrates to me what she wants to say - I write it down - and then she copies it.)


She is doing surprisingly well in math.  We are using Singapore 1A right now.
I had thought about switching her to CLE math - but since she's doing so well with Singapore, I might just stick with it.

For our main program - we're still using Heart of Dakota's - Little Hearts for His Glory. 
We've slowed it down, and changed things a bit, due to our heavy focus on phonics, but the 'heart' of the program is still there.   (As with most programs - I'm not completely happy unless I tweak it a bit)
(I do love how these guides are laid out though!)

Katie really loves the art and science projects that LHFHG has scheduled.




Aside from school Katie has really developed a love for her baby dolls lately.
She saved up her own money to buy a 'diaper bag' full of doll care supplies, and she spends most of her free time mothering her 'babies.'  
(She even wanted a sling for baby-wearing!... How could I say no?)

If asked what she wants to be when she grows up - she replies,
"A mother."  
That's my girl.....

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Nov. 24, 2009 - Bright Lights from Sunday School, and Thanksliving

I missed my personal deadline for the weekly homeschool wrap-up.  I could still write it, but there is a point when the weeks begin to run together for me.   Not to mention that I have all of these ideas flowing through my head, and because I don’t stop to write them down, I can never remember them when I’m in a time crunch!   So, with this being a short week such that I know I won’t have much to say about school, I might just use this weekend’s downtime to write a 2-week wrap-up.   Yeah, that’s it.   In the meantime, I've wanted to catch everyone up on our Sunday school, and it took a while to pull all of the links together, but I finally sat and took the time to make it happen. 

This past Sunday was our Sunday to teach the lesson to our younger teen’s class, and while the kids worked, my husband and I were discussing how much has changed from when we arrived.   Our pre-teen and teen teachers are tremendous ministers of the gospel.      They all have callings to pastor churches; this has been, in my opinion, both a blessing and a curse.    In almost every case, they have perhaps forgotten more about God’s Word than I will ever know.    Yet, their teaching style—YIKES!—is to stand before the children and preach.   And preach.   And preach.   Such was the case with our class’s previous teacher when we arrived, complete with the homeschooler’s trademark--object lessons.   Now suddenly, the kids were expected to move around, to respond, and to complete a project or individual activity.    I talked some about the reading abilities, the lack of self esteem, etc. in an earlier post.     Most of those kids ran from our class the minute they got old enough to move into the next class, not waiting for our annual “promotion day.”   They longed for, and got, another preacher who’d allow them to sit and veg, to text, and to talk amongst themselves during a weekly sermon.

For many months, our class ran lean—only 4-6 students.    Our Children’s Director pressed for numbers.     Growth is good, but it’s not my primary goal.   That’s a source of disconnect between the Director, our co-teacher, and I, but I have peace that I’m on the right path.   The angels in heaven rejoice when one is saved—why get worked up over a classroom full of people who aren’t looking for Christ?   Anyway, as much as I’m thankful for a class that now averages 10+ kids each week—largely because of the promotion day, not necessarily because of us—now seemed as good a time as any to talk about some of what God has used us to help those kids walk through.    For these opportunities, I am truly thankful.

I wrote last spring about a student whose parent shared with us a potential felony that the student was facing.   If you’d care to read it, that story is here.      The student spent weeks in an alternative school, which was a frightening enough experience, but was also facing a court date to see if time in a juvenile detention center was also appropriate.   The parents were to pay thousands of dollars to a lawyer, but the husband decided against it.    His words were that “we’re not paying some stranger to prove who she is.   God already knows who she is.”    When they reached the public attorney’s office, the lawyer assigned to them said, “This child is going places.   Let’s try and get this dismissed.”  And it was.   Hallelujah!    That child moved on to the next class this year, but we give God glory that we were able to touch and agree for her deliverance from the hands of the enemy.

I wrote about the 5 boys from a nearby foster home.       The one who was being punished, in part, and kept from Sunday school is now back.   He popped out and gave us all such a pleasant surprise this past Sunday, and I think he was as happy to see us as we were to see him.   The sad news is that he told us that one of the other boys was transferred to a different home after a behavior problem.   The boy who was transferred was another interested and bright student, and the last one that I would have thought to have behavioral issues.    The two that remain in our class are curiously quiet about the whole thing, which leads me to more prayer.    We lost another of the boys to a mental facility, which I believe I’d shared before.    The fifth little boy, who didn’t talk (found here),  was too young for our class and now sits faithfully in a group that is more age appropriate for him.   He has had to join us when that teacher is absent, and I now know his name—John.   John loves to talk, when in an environment where others don’t laugh at his speech impediment, which sounds like that of a child who has hearing problems.   Two weeks ago, I asked him to share something, calling him by name.    His blue eyes twinkled, and he beamed like a baby who can confidently take a few steps amidst applauding parents when he said, “You know my name!”    The fact that I could quickly memorize names, while most people struggled with mine, embarrassed me as a younger person, but being able to call him “John” after only hearing his name once allowed me to see how God can use even the smallest gifts to yield big results.

This past Sunday, I was sharing with the kids that I live my dream on most days.  I talked about the kids, I talked about working from home, and I talked about being married for almost 20 years (in actuality we’ll celebrate year 18 in about 3 months).    My husband let out somthing that sounded close to a rebel yell, and the oldest almost went under her desk.   Later she told my husband how embarrassed she was at his clamor.    We both began to share the stories of several of these kids.    There are others—children watching parents fight constantly as they contemplate divorce, children struggling to pass school, and there are probably hosts of other trials of which we’re unaware.    Our children are relatively sheltered—they live with two Christian parents in a healthy marriage, and though we have our own struggles and dysfunctions, our issues rarely affect the kids in a tangible way.    She, and our other two, may not appreciate this for the blessing that it is until they have children of their own, but during this time of year, I’m not only celebrating Thanksgiving, I’m embracing Thanksliving.   As my very eloquent cousin, Homeschool Daddy, says, ‘Thanksgiving is one day; Thanksliving is a way of life.’     (You simply must see his post on not being "that dad!"   May God grant you a beautiful Thanksliving as well.

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Tuesday, November 24, 2009 - Free Thanksgiving Resources including lapbooks & Mayflower model

Hello, I hope I can be of help and make things a little easier on you as you are cleaning up your house for Thanksgiving.  (I mean, we can not let others know how we really live! He He)  I have some great FREE resourses for you so lets get started.

First, the Mayflower, you can access the directions for this by clicking here or go straight to the webpage here (the best way to print this is to move your curser over the cutout, right click & hit the print picture rather than just print the whole page.)

You can visit The Toy Maker (click here) and find napkin holders, cut out 3-d turkeys & pilgrims, photo frames, place cards, and some other really nice & cute cut outs.   Another cut out turkey can be found here.

Now I have an absolutly incredible site for you.  This is an interactive "thingy" about the pilgrims, their voyage over, how they lived in comparision to the indians, how the children lived, their daily lives;, the first Thanksgiving feast; I can not begin to tell you everything. It is presented in short segments that you can read or hit the speaker icon and hear the story being told to you by various kids.  A word of warning: if you are on dial up, don't bother fustrating yourself with this.  You can access the main home page by clicking here.

And of course, how can you discuss the Mayflower, without the Mayflower Compact. You can read it by clicking here.

If you are into crafty things or need something for the little ones to do, I have a link to a page with a list (and links) to any and every Thanksgiving Day craft I could thing of.  You can access it by clicking here. I also found a really cute Thankful Thanksgiving Day craft for any age; click here.

Now here is a lapbook on Thankfullness. You can get that by clicking here. You can download a free Thanksgiving Day lapbook at CurrClick by clicking here (you have to go through checkout but do not worry, you do not have to put in a credit card number.)

Well, this should keep you busy.  Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving. We are getting ready to smoke a turkey, ham & beef briskett.  Yeah, we have a lot of people coming this year. But I was smart.  I asked everyone to bring one traditional side, one new side of their liking, one bread, and one dessert.  Translation: since the hubby is doing the smoker, all I have to do is clean the house and make coffee.  He he. I am good!

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Monday, November 23, 2009 - Haven of Rest Duet

This is Jenifer Cook's beautiful piano accompaniment arrangement of Haven of Rest.  Amy is at the piano, and Alison on the violin.

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