For the Sake of the Call

For the Sake of the Call

Dec. 10, 2007 - Homeschool Graduate Wins Heisman

One of the biggest questions people have about homeschooling through high school is, "What about sports?" This question is included along with all the other "socialization" questions like how homeschoolers could possibly survive adolescence without experiencing prom and homecoming and the like. Many homeschoolers quit homeschooling after Middle School for just such reasons. Yesterday, my dad told me about one exception.

Associated Press

"Homeschooled by missionary parents who run an orphanage in the Philippines, Tebow took advantage of a Florida state law to play for Nease, about 90 miles from the University of Florida campus.

Tebow has worked and preached at his parents' orphanage since he was 15. He regularly speaks at schools and delivered his message of faith at a prison in Florida earlier this year."

Born to missionaries in the Phillipines, homeschooled through High School, University of Florida sophomore Tim Tebow became the first under-classman to win the Heisman Trophy this weekend. The more I read about him, the more impressed I become with him and his parents. One adjective that is used repeatedly to describe him is humble, and every article lauds his character. This quote, from Tim's dad, completely resonated with my heart, and my husband's and my goals for our children and our homeschool:

“If I could get my kids to the age of 25 and they know God and serve God and had character qualities that pleased God, then I knew God would be happy and I would be happy,” Bob Tebow said. “The only way I could do that was to do it myself, commit to God that this is my job. Traditional academics had to take a back seat to God’s Word and character building. You can be well-educated in the world’s eyes and still be a sorry person. You can graduate with degrees and have no character. Character defines who you are.”

Well, Mr. Tebow, he's not 25 yet, but it appears you have succeeded in what you set out to do! Congratulations to you, your son, and your entire family. May many more come to know our Lord and Savior through you all! To God be the glory!

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Jul. 27, 2007 - Teaching Geography with Time's What the World Eats

Geography is not just about maps, it also about world cultures, economic activity, and how people in different parts of the world live. So when my dear friend Becky Bowersox highlighted this link on her blog, I got so excited about all the Geography lessons that can be learned in a fun way through this series of photographs. I couldn't help but share with you. First, the photos and the information that they present is so interesting! Who knew that there was already so much pre-packaged food in Kuwait? I was fascinated! I know you will be too, and just to make it even easier, here are some activites that can be done to enhance the educational experience.

Teaching Geography with Time's What the World Eats

Look at the pictures, what are your initial observations. (When I just flipped through them and 2dd8 saw the picture with the pizza, fried chicken, Burger King, McDonalds, Taco Bell etc. she said, "That must be America!")
Compare & Contrast the types of foods on the table. Which families use more fresh produce, which ones have more take-out? What other foods look interesting or unfamiliar? What things do you notice?
Compare and contrast the amount of money that is spent each week on groceries. Compare and contrast the quantity of food and the number of people that it feeds in the different cities.
Compare & Contrast the number of people in each family. Note the places where different generations are living together. Especially note the Beijing family, look closely, this is not a family with one daughter and one son, but a grandmother, mom, dad, and son. Talk about Chinese "one child only policies."
Compare and Contrast the various living environments that are pictured. Some live in cramped houses while others live in tents. Use deductive reasoning to imagine the rest of the house (ex. the picture may have been taken in front of the TV because there isn't a separate dining room). Discuss nomads.
Use a map to find the different cities and countries that are listed. Where in the world is Bhutan?
Observe the different types of clothes that are worn, do they tell you anything about the people pictured?
Compare and contrast the favorite foods that are listed. Try out a new recipe.
Note the expressions on various faces. Why do you think the German boy is so angry? Why is the family from Ecuador smiling when they have so little? Talk to people who have been on a mission trip to different parts of the world, ask them to describe the people there.
Final observations: What other things of significance do you notice in the pictures? What have you learned? How does it make you feel about what you have?

Follow up: Pray for the different families pictured. Pray for missionaries that minister in the different areas of the world. Pray that the Gospel would be proclaimed and that people would be receptive to it. Thank God for the abundance that He has provided for your family. Consider sponsering a child or supporting a missionary. Consider donating to a local food bank, volunteering at one, or starting a food pantry at your church. Grow a garden, start eating more fresh, whole foods. Visit the Farmer's Market. Be creative, come up with other ideas that you can do with your family.

Other Resources: The Ultimate Geography and Timeline Guide by Maggie Hogan & Cindy Wigger, Window on the World by Daphne Spraggett with Jill Johnstone

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Jun. 29, 2007 - Duck Tales

My brother-in-law (B) has graciously allowed me to post this account on my blog, even though he and my sister (A) don’t really get the whole blog thing.

Over the last few months, we have been witness and supporter to a mother mallard and her brood of 13 eggs, nested only inches from our front walk.

We fed Momma Mallard and covered her eggs for her and put out water; we created a shelter of plants so she would feel more secure, we even let our flowers die because we thought our water might prove too cold for the eggs.

We began with 13 eggs but soon, a predator of some sort came and took two, leaving us with 11…and we watched and we waited. We researched the future, we watched the calendar and most importantly, we watched the nest, eager for the arrival of our baby ducks and always impressed with the inborn, God given instinct the mother had for her soon to be born ducklings.

We knew the ducklings were to hatch soon and we were incredibly excited. Every morning and evening we would watch for signs of activity in the nest and momma mallard grew more and more protective. Then, Wednesday night: tragedy. Thursday morning A opened the door, checking the nest to make sure all was well, but instead of the familiar momma mallard on her nest, she was greeted by chaos. The eggs and nest were speckled with blood and a pool of red covered the sidewalk. Feathers were everywhere, in the bushes, grouped in the yard, stuck in the pool of blood. Something horrific had happened.

Momma Mallard was dead, half devoured and near the nest lay two, newly hatched ducklings, killed in the onslaught. Our hearts were broken, our eyes filled with tears.

I cleaned up the mess and covered the remaining eggs in the nest and we both left for work. We thought our tale had ended in tragedy. Perfectly natural, but tragic nonetheless.

But, God’s creation is a wonderful thing.

When A got home from work, still reeling from the mayhem of the morning, she heard a chirp! Then another, and another! She found four ducklings in and around the nest! One, bold little fella had found his way into the middle of a bush, the others remained in and around the nest. Their down had dried revealing a beautiful yellow and brown pattern and they chirped and jumped and were full of life.

A got a box, lined it with newspaper and gathered up the little ducklings, then, from the remaining eggs, she heard more chirping! The unhatched ducklings were calling out from within their egg, looking for the encouragement they needed to break through their shell and start their life. A whistled back and slowly but surely, another duckling emerged from its shell!

In all, we had five, beautiful brown and yellow ducklings with one egg still looking for the right encouragement to come out. It was magnificent.

We took our little ducks to a rescue shelter for water fowl and entrusted them to the crazy ducklady but overall, a horrific experience turned into a thing of beauty and of grace.

It certainly reminds me of Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:26: “Look at the birds of the air, they do not sow or reap or store away in barns and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”

What a lesson! God protected the ducklings from the predator, He gave them the instinct to be born without guidance, He put them in our yard so someone could scoop them up and protect them after their mother was killed, and He even provided a crazy ducklady to care for them beyond our means. If God does all this for baby ducks, what in the world does He have in store for those who love Him and follow Him?

And a postscript from my sister…

I cried half the morning because I was so sad about the gruesome way the mommy was killed and thought the babies wouldn’t come out of their shells because the mom wouldn’t be there to talk to them when it was time and if they did hatch, I thought they would either break their necks getting out of the nest (which one little guy did) or they would get eaten. And we so much wanted to meet them.

Finding the 4 babies so excited to be alive in the garden was awesome. And talking to the little chic inside the egg to encourage him to come out was very cool as well. I had to help him get the egg shell off his head because I was worried that he would hurt himself flailing around and he kept taking naps in between getting his bottom half out so, he wasn’t quite all the way out before we handed him over to the duck lady. We would have kept them to raise them ourselves, but ducklings aren’t born with waterproofing, they get that from the oils on their mommy’s underfeathers when she sits on them. So, if they don’t get waterproofed some other way, they just drown the first time they try to swim! And, we don’t know nuthin’ ‘bout waterproofin’ no ducks so, we thought they would be better with an expert. They definitely imprinted to us, though, and they would sit up and peep,peep,peep every time I would walk away from their box and they tried the whole car ride to the shelter to get out of their box because they were so excited every time that B spoke. I had to keep moving them back to the front of the box because they wanted to step on the newest-born’s head while he was trying to sleep. And, we told them all about their mommy and how we loved them but just weren’t equipped to take care of them properly and how to get back to our house when they fly south for the winter. Our bad morning definitely had a happy conclusion.

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Jun. 16, 2007 - Ice-Cold Lemonade

Today was the day for our community garage sale, so the kids came up with the idea of having a lemonade stand. Since we're all overachievers in this house, we couldn't just mix up some Country Time and serve it in Dixie cups for a dime. No! If we were going to sell lemonade, then we were going to do it right, and we can't just have one kind; we need four different types!

First dh and 1ds9 had to build a lemonade stand

Then we had to make a list and go shopping at Sam's Club. Dh thought that the 8oz cups were too small, so we went with 16oz cups instead. After all, it was supposed to be hot and people would be thirsty. We also had to buy lemonade mix (regular and pink), oranges, lemons, limes, paper towels, poster board, markers, and ice. Last night we sat down and calculated how much it would cost us to make a cup of lemonade. It was an excellent learning exercise; bringing together many of the math concepts that 1ds9 has learned this year in a very practical way. I must say that I was astounded at the cost! It soon became evident that it's no longer possible to sell real lemonade for 25 cents (why is there not a cents sign on my keyboard?!?). We ended up having to set a price of 75 cents and I was skeptical that we'd be able to sell many. (would you spend 75 cents on lemonade?) We also bought some Starbucks Mocha Frappuccinos which I thought would be a big seller.

So we made our signs, and then the kids all raced to bed, anxious for morning to come. You would have thought it was Christmas Eve! As my Uncle Frankie would say, "They were wound up tighter than a tick."

Morning came all too soon as dh woke the two oldest kids up at 7:30am. Our young entrepreneuers set up quickly while I pulled my pillow over my head and longed for a few more hours rest. All to soon I joined the fun and the kids have been out there ever since. It is now past 2:30pm and I'm ready to shut down the operation. It's hot out there, and I don't anticipate any more garage-salers. I actually rode my bike around the neighborhood in hopes I might have luck finding something of worth myself. The last house at which I stopped was selling books for a quarter or 5 for a dollar; much cheaper than my kids' lemonade. I found a few classics which we didn't already own and enjoyed reading a couple of chapters from Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle to the kids while they manned the stand.

We have yet to tally the day's earnings, but I'm pleased that they did have quite a few customers; all of whom were served with a smile. I was wrong about the Frappuccinos, they only sold 3 or 4 of them, but they served about 30 cups of lemonade; not quite the 60 or so they anticipated, but still very respectable for the first attempt. It was a nice day and a valiant effort! I even met a homeschool mom of 9 (one graduated from college) who was very encouraging. I asked her what she had learned and what advie she had for me and she told me that the best thing to do was to relax and not trust books for all of the learning. "Even cleaning the house can be a wonderful learning experience," she assured me. I'm glad to hear it because that's exactly what I'm doing, and selling lemonade is just another way to get an education beyond textbooks.

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May. 15, 2007 - Making the Most of Summertime

Summertime is just around the corner! While some homeschool moms (like me) try not to be distracted by the gorgeous weather as they press-on with the "schoolwork," others are excitedly looking ahead to the finish line of yet another school-year. I wrote this article a couple of years ago for my homeschool group and spent some time expanding it this afternoon. It is intended to be an encouragement to you and me; not something that will become burdensome and overwhelming. I pray that it blesses you and assists you in making the most of summertime so that you are even better prepared to work dilligently when the school bell rings once again.

Making the Most of Summertime

For many home educators, summer is the time to catch up on all the things that we’ve “put off” all year long. Unfortunately, many of us fail to plan and find summer over all too soon and our “To Do List” not any shorter than it was at the beginning of the season. Let us purpose to be more proactive in our summer plans; to be deliberate and reasonable in setting goals. Pray always for God’s strength, wisdom, and discernment as well as the ability to glorify Him and serve Him joyfully. Ask that He would lead you and guide you in spending the summer wisely. God is faithful! Be encouraged that in working diligently, the coming school year will get off to a better start and should run more smoothly.

Personally

Read a book (or two or a dozen). Make sure to include something fun in addition to all those how-to homeschool books!
Establish healthy habits.
- Rise early.
- Have a daily quiet time including prayer and Bible study.
- Exercise and Eat Right.
Catch up on correspondence.
- Clean out your inbox. Reply to e-mail.
- Send out a “Christmas in July” letter.
- Write overdue thank-you notes.
- Call an old friend.
- Write an old-fashioned letter on pretty stationary.
Get a family picture taken.
Give yourself a manicure or pedicure.
Spend time on your hobby. Get together with friends to scrapbook or stamp.
Schedule overdue dentist, doctor, eye doctor…appointments.

With Regards to Child Rearing

Invest time in training.
Work towards first-time obedience.
Teach and encourage good manners.
Establish good habits.
Be consistent in biblical discipline.
Train them how to do chores and housework.

In the Realm of Academics

Continue to provide stability for children who thrive on routine.
Complete unfinished work from the previous school year.
Work ahead to create more breathing room in the coming school year or so that you can enjoy vacations at other times in the year.
Tackle subjects that do not fit easily into your standard curriculum (State History).
Focus on problem areas or develop strengths.
Regularly review core material to prevent memory loss (Math Facts!).
Read great books together, encourage your children to read independently.
Participate in the library Summer Reading Program.
Have fun with a summer unit study.
Encourage letter writing.
Plan and prepare for the coming school year.

Spiritually

· Memorize Scripture verses or passages individually and as a family.

· Worship together through praise songs and hymns.

· Establish consistent family devotion times.

· Pray together as a family.

· Study the Bible.

· Participate in (or even lead/host) a Women’s Bible Study or Book Club.

· Go on a short-term missions trip or prayerfully support someone who else who is going.

In the Home

Tackle Projects

Go through your house and make a list of home improvement projects.
Pray over and itemize the list in order of priority.
Choose one or two big projects and a few smaller projects to complete.
Map out a plan as to how to get them done.

De-clutter

Focus on one cupboard, cabinet, closet, room at a time.
Use three boxes: Put Away, Give Away, Throw Away.
Remember to keep an eternal perspective and don’t cling to earthly things.

Clean

Tackle the deep cleaning projects you’ve neglected.
Go through the house room by room with a critical eye and make a list.
- Baseboards, Windows, Blinds, Walls, Cobwebs in corners, Dusting…
- Incorporate your kids in these projects and train them how to clean.
Create a workable plan to maintain cleanliness throughout the year.

Get Organized

Create a workable filing system for dealing with paper.
Create a realistic schedule/routine. Consider
- Devotions/Bible Study
- Housework
- Academics
- Projects & Hobbies
- Exercise/Physical Fitness
- Ministry
- Extra-curriculars
Make a chore chart.
Make a Master Menu & corresponding Shopping List.
- Peruse recipe books and experiment with healthy, “quick & easy” meals.
- Plan weekly or bi-weekly meals, list every ingredient needed to make each meal (don’t forget breakfast, lunch and snacks), make your master shopping list from these meals.

Be Creative

· Plant a garden.

· Sew something.

Have Fun

Plan day or weekend trips to interesting places.
Enjoy the swimming pool.
Go on a picnic.
Visit a state park and hike through the woods.
Go bike riding; pack lunch.
Get together with friends you haven’t seen in awhile.
Host a cookout; invite a new family you don’t know very well.
Stay up late catching lightning bugs!
Go on vacation.
Take a road trip.
Go to/serve in Vacation Bible School.
Go on a date with just one of your kids.
Go on a date with your spouse.
Find a drive-in movie theatre and take the kids to a family friendly movie.

What do you do with the kids while you’re catching up?

Enlist the help of family. Can the kids spend an evening, night, day, week or long weekend with their grandparents or other relatives?
Swap with friends.
Enroll them in a week of day camp.
Involve them: be creative about ways that they can participate.
- Reward them or pay them for extra work they do to help.

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Mar. 1, 2007 - What are they singing?

So, I'm downstairs working on Math with ds and the girls are upstairs listening to this CD and singing...en Espanol. Just so you know, they don't know much Spanish beyond Hola, Adios, Gracias, and some colors and numbers, but they're singing in Spanish, as though they're fluent. I picked up a Spanish kids CD at a Christian bookstore for 3dd5.5 for Christmas, and she's really enjoyed listening to it, and can now sing along. I have no idea what they're singing, something about Jesus (pronounce Hey soos), I'm banking on Integrity Music's reputation that it's doctrinally acceptable. Anyway, I just wanted to share that with you. Have a great afternoon!

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Jan. 16, 2007 - Ask and you shall receive....

SNOW! Just a bit more than a dusting which is quickly melting, but snow none the less. The squeals of delight from the kids this morning were greater than those on Christmas Day proving once again that God gives the best presents!

In addition, we've been enjoying sweet visitors to our birdfeeder: chickadees, nuthatches, and dark-eyed juncos. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology website has been a source of good information.

The whole earth is full of His glory!

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Nov. 28, 2006 - Seeking Pre-school Music Ideas

My 3 1/2 year old daughter enjoys performers Raffi and Laurie Berkner. The majority of their songs are fabulous, but I don't agree completely with their underlying world views which subtly seep into their lyrics. I am searching for a Christian singer who sings this style of songs for Pre-schoolers. We have numerous Kids Praise and Worship CDs as well as Sunday School Songs. We have the Veggie Tales CDs also. What other CDs have your kids enjoyed?

I appreciate your suggestions!

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Nov. 19, 2006 - Additional Advent Resources

Well, I'm a bit bummed, because it appears that I didn't order the other two Ytreeide books which I referred to in Christmas is Coming, so I'm trying to come up with a "Plan B" and praying that Arnold Ytreeide would find a new publisher and release his books again next year.

So, here are some other resources I've found.

Advent for Evangelicals is a new blog I discovered devoted exclusively to this special season. On this blog, I was introduced to the new e-book: The Glorious Coming: A Jesse Tree Devotional Celebration by Ann Voscamp (Author of A Child's Geography).

Jesus the Promised One is a Christmas Devotional written by homeschool graduate, Katherine Loop. Katherine lives in Northern Virginia and although I missed two different opportunities to hear her speak, I do know of others who know her and speak very highly of her. This devotional is designed for families. Every day, each child creates a page for a special book, based on the devotional.

Please, feel free to share in the comments or post on your own blogs some of your favorite resources too! I'm looking forward to reading about everyone else's traditions!

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Nov. 15, 2006 - Christmas is Coming

It is very difficult for me to begin to think about Christmas before Thanksgiving, but I have learned over the years that giving and receiving the full blessing of the Advent season requires planning ahead.

Advent literally means "the coming" and is a time of spiritual preparation for the coming of Christmas (literally, "Christ's birth"), as well as Jesus' Second Coming. Advent begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, which is December 3, 2006, this year.

Many Christians observe the Advent season by lighting an Advent wreath which can be purchased or home-made. Traditionally, the Advent wreath contains 4 candles: 3 purple and 1 pink. Sometimes a 5th, white, candle is added in the middle (to be lit on Christmas morning). The purple candles symbolize hope, peace, and love and are lit on the first, second, and fourth Sundays of Advent. The pink candle symbolizes joy and is lit on the third Sunday. Our family usually uses three red and one white candles, because this is the way the Germans did it when my family began using the Advent wreath while living in Berlin. Growing up, the oldest child (I) would light the first candle every night at dinner for the first week. The second child would light the first and second candle the next week and so on. It was always tricky to make sure that the first candle was not completely melted down by the end of the month. We continue this tradition with our own kids.

We also have Advent devotionals together. We started with daily Scripture Readings (here is an example) and over the years have added other resources. Last year, I did morning devotionals with the kids using Joni Eareckson Tada and Bobbie Wolgemuth's fabulous resource Christmas Carols for a Kid's Heart.

In the evening we read from Jotham's Journey: A Storybook for Advent by Arnold Ytreeide. We were all captivated by the thrilling narative and inspired by this beautiful story. Daily devotionals/Scripture readings are also included. If you do not own this amazing devotional story, I encourage you to procure it immediately. I can not speak highly enough of this book! Last year, my husband was away on travel for a couple of weeks during the Advent season. During this time, he would call home every night so that we could read about Jotham together. It was a very special time! This year we are excited to read the second volume in this trilogy: Bartholomew's Passage, I can hardly wait! (Ooops: It looks like these books are out of print and selling for big bucks, sorry! Watch for them! I hope I had the foresight to buy all three myself! I'll have to go search my Christmas boxes!)

Another fun time for us during the Advent season is the celebration of St. Nicholas' Day. As I alluded to previously, from the time I was 2 years old to 5 years old, my family lived in Berlin, East Germany where my father was stationed in the army. The observance of St. Nicholas Day is common in Europe and is one of the traditions that my family brought home to the United States. It remains one of my favorite days of the year! On December 5th, we all clean/polish our Sunday School shoes and place them outside our doors in the hallway. In the morning, they are filled with a tangerine, a candy cane, chocolate coins, and maybe some other candy. Sometimes, there are also other presents as well.

Our family does not celebrate Santa Claus. We refuse to attribute the divine qualities of El Roi (The God Who Sees)- "he sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake", and omniscience ("he knows if you've been bad or good"), to name a couple. When we observe St. Nicholas Day, we are able to introduce our children to the historical truth behind the myth of Santa Claus. We read the delightful storybook Saint Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend and talk about the pastor, who loved Jesus, was generous, kind, and compassionate, who died on December 6th and now lives in heaven with Jesus. Putting the shoes out is like a game, and any presents that are given are ones that point to Christ and contribute to the celebration of the Advent season. Some presents we've given (and they all know that we fill the shoes) are Christmas CDs, child nativity sets (Veggie Tales, Fisher-Price Little People) or Chrismas books. The rest of the month, as we're out and about and see Santa Claus, I remind the kids, "That it is someone dressed up like St. Nicholas, but we really know where he is, in heaven with Jesus, right?" We already celebrated his "birthday" and now we're focused on the more important birthday that is coming up. It is very important to us that we never lie to our children. Many children have been distraught to find out that Santa Claus was not real. If we lie to our kids for years about Santa Claus, how can we expect them to believe us when we tell them about God. Maybe He's just pretend too.

Because we did the "shoe thing," my family didn't do stockings on Christmas Eve (the origination is the same), but my husband's family did, and his sister even made stockings for each of us. So, in recent years, we've assigned the kids the duty of filling eachothers' stockings. We take them shopping and they have a lot of fun buying presents for eachother. It's a great way to encourage them to be "others focused" in a season that tends to be very "self-focused." My kids don't make lists either. I, myself, hate making Christmas lists, but it has been required of me far too often.

These are just some of the traditions we've started or continued in our family. Many Christians are disturbed to find out the pagan originations of Christmas and wonder whether they should celebrate Christmas, or put up a tree or anything. I've researched all of those things, and while it is highly unlikely that Jesus was born at the end of December (some say September is more likely, some the Spring), we still see the Nativity as something that is worth celebrating. Our goal is to emphasize the spiritual importance of Jesus' birth and the reality of his Second Coming. We are "convinced in our own mind" that there is value to celebrating Christmas and are increasingly attempting to make our celebrations even more edifying spiritually. God bless you all as you celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior!

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Sep. 27, 2006 - Finally A Cub Scout

1ds9 is ecstatic to finally be in Cub Scouts as a first year Webelo! Scouting is a family tradition for us. Dh, his brother, and several cousins are all Eagle Scouts as is my little brother. Both of our dads have been very active in leadership in Scouts for many years, and dh's mom was as well (especially on the Cub Scout level).

With this rich heritage of Scouting, you would've thought that we would have signed our only boy up as soon as he was old enough, but we really didn't feel the Lord leading us to do so until now. We had investigated a troop in Virginia but weren't at peace about it, so we didn't pursue it further. Instead, we enjoyed numerous sports. Upon moving to Indiana, we really thought that it was time to start Scouting and we are very pleased with the troop of which we are now a part. There are at least two homeschool families that we know from our church, and one of those boys is also in 1ds9's den, so he's excited to have a friend, and a Christian homeschooled one at that. I'm confident that he'll make many more friends and we are excited about the opportunity to get connected in the community and share our faith with those who may not believe.

We are also pleased that the Boy Scouts of America has stayed true to many of the Judeo/Christian values that it was founded upon even under immense pressure to forsake them. In addition, this is a great opportunity for father and son to build lasting memories together and continue to develop a fabulous relationship with eachother. Already, the incentive of working one-on-one with Dad has encouraged son to behave well for Mom during the day! (BONUS!!!)

Anyone want to buy some popcorn?

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May. 18, 2006 - Little Girls' Co-op

Both of my older daughters have been in co-ops for the past year/year and a half. They aren't super formal co-ops. There are about 5 families in each co-op and the mom's rotate hosting & teaching. 2dd6's co-op met twice a month for 2 1/2 hours, used the Five in a Row curriculum and did lapbooking. The girls enjoyed packing their lunches and eating together in addition to the learning time and play time. 3dd5's co-op met only once a month for 2 hours and didn't use a formal curriculum. The topics were mostly seasonal (Thanksgiving, Easter,) and sometimes topical (The Zoo, Flowers, Birds). Both of these co-ops have been minimal stress for our family and very edifying. The kids have benefitted from other mom's instruction and have developed wonderful friendships with other Christian girls!

Well, 4dd3 has for some time wanted a co-op of her own. In fact for months, she insitsted upon praying for her girls' co-op EVERY TIME WE PRAYED. If someone else were to pray and not mention her (non-existant) girs' co-op, she was a MESS and we would have to pray again, thanking God for her girls' co-op. Every night, without fail, she would say, "Dear God, Thank you for my girls' co-op..." She's been doing this for 6 months (although not so obsessively the past couple). Well, the situation escalated beyond simple prayers to tears when 3dd5 went to her April co-op, so I PROMISED that in May, she would have her own co-op. (I rarely promise anything!) Then, our life is turned upside down with dh's new job and the pending move and yesterday, I remember the promise and realize that today is co-op day again. Well, I had to keep my word!

With not much time to plan and NO ideas, I hopped over to grandmommy's blog where she had recently posted about a wonderful storybook Play With Me by Marie Hall Ets. (Thank you Grandmommy!!!) So this morning we scrambled to clean the house, make a batch of buterscotch brownies, run to the grocery, and then the library to pick up the book, dropped off 3dd5 at her co-op and invited the younger sister of one of her friends to come over for girls' co-op at our house (the older sister is also a friend of 2dd6, so they had a grand time playing and making up their own crafts all afternoon). I didn't have a craft planned, but managed to figure one out with help from my friend (we made bunny rabbits out of yogurt containers--very cute) and the girls had snack and listened to the story and we sang the song Over in the Meadow...it turned out very well EXCEPT...

After all the anticipation, my dear sweet daughter was too overwhelmed to enjoy it. She cried initially, played shy the entire time, refused to play with her friend, clung to me, didn't want to have her picture taken...sigh!

Well, at least I kept my promise and she was excited to tell Daddy about it on the phone, and she did like the "bunny cup" craft and has asked me to re-read the story many times, and of course she enjoyed the brownies and the Zoo Pals frog plate, so it was a special day, she's just a little bit immature yet for her own co-op, which I knew. I am relieved that I didn't have more time to plan and invite more girls, because I don't think she really would have enjoyed it and I might be more frustrated if I'd actually spent more than a minute planning it.

Kids are funny! They think they know what they want and on the rare occasion they get it, they realize they didn't really want it in the first place. I guess we never really outgrow that!

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Mar. 15, 2006 - We Have a Moth!!!!

While we were vacationing with my parents in Tennessee, my husband discovered a cocoon, wrapped in a dried leaf, in the Great Smoky Mountains. He was inquisitive and thought it was dead, so he started to cut the leaf open, but as he did, the cocoon started shaking and so he stopped. Excited to find a cocoon (after we'd just successfully hatched a butterfly a week earlier), we decided to bring it home with us. (I know, I know,"take only pictures, leave only footprints," but I guess we're rebels like that!)

That was November, and it has hung in our butterfly house (a fabulous present from my sister) for all these months, until yesterday. At times, we would give up hope and pull it out and peel back the leaf a bit to look at the cocoon, sure that it was dead, but it would shake around a little bit and we would be encouraged that it was still alive.

Still, we were curious as to how long it would hang there (taped to a stick with scotch tape) and whether or not it would survive. I even talk to a "Moth Guy." He was skeptical and advised that I mist it with water so that it wouldn't dry out, so we started doing that in January.

Last night at dinner, 1dh8 glanced over at the butterfly house and announced, "We have a moth!" Unfortunately, like our butterfly, we did not have the privilege of watching it emerge, but we are still thrilled to have a moth.

We've done some research and to the best of our knowledge it is a male, Tuliptree Silkmoth. It's only supposed to live for a couple of days and since we took it out of its habitat, we're dubious that it can find a mate, so we're not sure what we'll do with it. Here are the best pictures that I could take. He's beautiful and these pictures do not capture the depth of color! Truly, the whole earth is full of the glory of the Lord!

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Mar. 1, 2006 - FiaR Girls' Co-op: The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge

I love co-ops!

They are such a wonderful opportunity for my kids to build good, solid, Christ-honoring friendships, to be influenced by other godly parents, and to be encouraged to know that they’re not the only ones who are not in “real school.” Plus, they stretch me to do things that I don’t do with just my kids.

Today, it was my turn to teach 2DD6's 1^st grade girls’ Five in a Row Co-op. I had an awesome book from which to teach and barely scratched the surface.

The girls painted, and personalized a wooden lighthouse. They did such a fabulous job and I was so impressed with their creativity and ability. I am not very crafty myself and painting makes me crazy, so I can’t believe I even attempted it, but my dear husband was able to be at co-op with us today because of his crazy working schedule, so he helped to keep things from getting too chaotic (4DD3 still managed to get red paint all over MY sleeve, I was prepared though and was wearing a 12 year old sweatshirt-LOL). Here's a link to the finished products.

http://static.flickr.com/42/106496288_821581627e.jpg

The girls also sponge-painted a lighthouse stencil onto a flip-page in their lapbooks.

The lapbooks were mostly pre-assembled (between midnight and 3AM the “night” before). I included a sketch of the interior of a lighthouse with a list of the functions of each part, another sketch of a suspension bridge with a list of its parts, some pictures of the Little Red Lighthouse (Jeffreys Hook) and the Great Gray Bridge (George Washington), a map of New York, a detailed sketch of the lighthouse lantern and two blocks of Scriptures dealing with pride and humility. The girls wrote the title and their names on the front and stamped a lighthouse on the inside. Normally, the lapbooks include more “activities” for them to do themselves, but I just had too many other ideas, so I created the lapbooks for them more as a source of information and a keepsake. You can check out our lapbooks here.

http://static.flickr.com/55/106496293_8e3d63c7ab.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/50/106496291_789fce2326.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/46/106496295_47ccb96600.jpg

In addition to taking turns with the girls reading our primary source, I read Beacons of Light: Lighthouses by Gail Gibbons and Bridges by Elaine Landau while the girls finished eating their lunches. (This year, we started having the girls pack lunch and eat together, they’ve enjoyed it.) We also looked at photographs of different lighthouses in Legendary Lighthouses by John Grant.

The internet was full of resources! It made my life much easier! Some links specifically related to this book are:

http://www.inventionfactory.com/history/RHAbridg/ (The Building of the George Washington Bridge)

http://www.hudsonlights.com/littlered.htm

http://www.newyorkled.com/georgebridge.htm

http://waltsmith.net/george_washington_bridge.htm

http://www.panynj.gov/CommutingTravel/bridges/html/gwb.html

There was so much to cover and so many projects to do that the girls hardly had time to play! I had to omit a few things just so they would have some time for play!

My daughter is enjoying an extended play-date with one of the girls now. We’ll keep her for the afternoon, feed her dinner, and take her to church with us this evening. They’re having a fun time and 2DD6 even designed her own lighthouse craft using scraps of construction paper. She’s a gem! It makes it worth all the work and the lack of sleep!

It’s been a great day!

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About Me

Philosophical musings from the heart of a home-educating mommy of four and wife of ten years. "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer." Psalms 19:14