CTG book basket is a bit different than ECC. I don’t want to be disappointed at all but it will take me a little while to get used to. There is a new list of books weekly as opposed to every two weeks (or per country studied). I like to get to every single book since they are all so wonderful and this tends to take me longer than I’d like. It’s also different because the weeks blend from one to the next so I can really hold onto the past week’s books…So just different.

We have slowed down a bit to work on some things we didn’t get to and to really take in what we’re learning. (mostly for the sake of what I’m learning) We are working on “Old Testament” lapbooks from Homeschooling in the Woods. R is especially enjoying each mini book he finishes. I know they will look so nice at the end of the year when they are all put together. We can show them off at the annual project fair. The kiddies made their own shofars out of a party horn and a paper bag. They actually turned out pretty neat. They sound more like what a shofar’s supposed to sound like as opposed to the toot-puff-tooting we were doing on our ram’s horn. We haven’t been blowing them daily as the our book suggests and we’ve sort of lost the continuity and the flow of the High Hoy Days. O and I had gone away on a much needed trip in the middle of it all so it was a little hard to follow the flow. We did come back to do the Tachlich time of going to a creek and emptying our pockets. I filled the kiddies pockets with small stones and encouraged them to remember a certain sin as they throw each stone into the water. We talked about how God casts our sins as far as the east is from the west.

We were also able to get to our science experiments in “Genesis For Kids”. We’re studying science through the days of creation.  We are on Day 1: Light. We talked about how light is white then we used a prism to break it into a rainbow. We discussed light as heat and made fire with the sun and a magnifying glass (against my better judgment of course). They thought that was really cool. We even made a spark by crushing a mint lifesaver. That was pretty cool too.

O is teaching me to take my time and not worry about “getting behind” Funny, I know this is my head and believe it so strongly but I continually need to be reminded of this particular benefit of teaching them at home. So, we went on a field trip. I don’t want to neglect trips as I tend to do just to keep my grid on a Monday through Friday order. I want to relax and enjoy opportunities as something perhaps even ordained by God. So we went Orienteering with the local Orienteering Club and it was amazing! There were a few preparation classes before setting out. One in particular was about compasses and how to orient our maps to North without using the compass. The instructor kept repeating “North never changes, you do.” I couldn’t get over that statement the whole day and discussed with the children how North is like God. When we sin we are the one who turned our hearts…not God. Like North, He never changes. Only when we orient the map of our life to Him are we able to stay on the right path.

And then finally our read aloud, Tanglewood’s Secret by Patricia St. John. I highly recommend it. DD and R seem to really relate to the characters and beg for “One more chapter PLEASE”. We frequently refer to the book throughout the day as certain situations arise. It has all fit together so perfectly with the heart of Rosh-ha-shanah through Yom Kippur as we align or hearts to His, Our Good Shepherd, our North, the Atoning Sacrifice. Moreover I have seen changes in my dear little ones in regard to their hearts toward God. For “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” 3 Jn.1:4