This is blog for pictures and descriptions of activities from our Keepers of the Faith club. We have a Keepers (girls) and Contenders (boys) group. The Moms work with the girls and the Dads with the boys. We do occasionally work on joint badges, but most often are separate for our activities. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KOF/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Fri, 6 Mar 2009 23:18:00 -0600 Fri, 6 Mar 2009 23:18:00 -0600                                        This month's topic was dollmaking.  It is a sweet topic and one that seemed fun.  The girls of all ages (from 7 to 16) are excited about making them.  Yvette, our teacher, found a great beginning dollmaking book at the library.  She shared with the girls some different choices they will be making as to how to m ake their doll - type of hair, type of face (painted or embroideried) and what they would be covering in the class.  Since this is a labor intensive project involving sewing, we decided to spend a couple of meetings working on the dolls. First the girls cut out their pattern pieces which had been photocopied onto paper.  The doll will be large which will hopefully make for easier sewing and turning.  Next, they pinned the pattern pieces to muslin and cut those out.  The girls began a little bit of the sewing, but not much (and I didn't get any pictures of this).  We will be tackling sewing at our next meeting in March.  Blessings, Leslie http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KOF/666163/ Fri, 6 Mar 2009 23:18:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KOF/666163/ We had a follow-up to our herb class.  They discussed various herbs and how to use them as well as identified some dried herbs.  The girls made sachets with some of the dried herbs.  It was a sweet and simple meeting - just right for this time of year!  More next month. Blessings, Leslie     http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KOF/637176/ Sat, 27 Dec 2008 20:45:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KOF/637176/                                                This month the girls learned about making pies. They learned about the different types of fillings that can go in a pie (from custard, to fruit to savory) as well as types of pie crusts (crumb, pastry, etc.). They each made their own pumpkin pie to take home and share with family. In order to identify the pies, each girl cut out her own shaped piece from leftover dough to put on the tops of the pies. This is the first batch to go in the oven. The girls also learned how to make their pie crusts look pretty - along the edges and by using cut-outs. Our wonderful teacher/hostess also made several other types of pies for the girls (and moms) to taste so we could experience the different types of pies. YUM!  Thanks Rebecca for a terrific class! Our family enjoyed the pie Rebecca brought home. She has made more since then and has volunteered to make the pies for Thanksgiving. She is contemplating 2 or 3 – a pumpkin, a pecan and maybe an apple. I love that she is having fun and enjoying all of the topics this year. All of the girls are having fun and it’s exciting to see them excited about learning and practicing their new skills. Blessings, Leslie http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KOF/623359/ Sat, 22 Nov 2008 23:59:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KOF/623359/                                           I'm behind - but going to post-date this entry so that it shows up in the right month.  ;-)  For this month, we chose to learn about Card Making.  This was my topic to teach on and it was great fun!  Since this topic is not listed in the KOF manual, I came up with a list of requirements in order to earn the badge.  Here are the requirements for our group.  (I have this in a word document if anyone would like a clean copy just email me.) Keepers of the Faith Card Making Badge Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing 1 Thess 5:11 Things to learn 1. Learn various techniques for making cards. Embellishments (can include ribbon, fibers, buttons, flowers, etc)Cutting paper to decorate Stamping  2. Make 8 cards using various techiniques On the form for the girls, there are spaces for them to write down when the cards are completed and for the teacher/instructor to sign off for the badge. To prepare for the class, I came up with 4 ideas for cards.  I bought a set of assorted colored cards at Michaels and various other supplies (mostly raided from my scrapbooking stash).  I made sure that all of the techniqes that were listed were things we would cover in making the cards.  We started with a devotion.  I asked them why card making was a useful skill/craft to know.  We then talked about encouragment, using the verse listed above.  Encouragement is something that is a sweet gift God can use to lift our spirits, build us up or comfort us.  We can also encourage each other by reminding each other of truth.  Being reminded of what is true according to God's word does lift us up.  I shared with the girls a personal story of recently receiving a card from a friend.  She shared God's word with me that specifically applied to the hurt I was feeling - and gave hope to my heart!  It was a beautiful example of how God can use our efforts to bless and encourage each other. This is what our class looked like.  We gathered around our table with a variety of supplies and started to work.  The first card was a simple one using paper and die cuts.  The girls just had to assemble in any way that they chose. For the second card, we did a few more techniques.  They added a large paper flower, added embroidery thread/fibers to the buttons, and attached it all.  They chose a variety of buttons and really personlized their cards. The third card used a stamped flower image which they decorated with adhesive rhinestones.  I thought these were really cute. The last card was the one most open for creativity.  I gave them a couple of sheets of paper and sheets of stickers and had them choose how to cut the paper and which stickers to use (they were all different).  The girls did a beautiful job and had a lot of fun with it too!  I know that several continued making cards after the class which was exciting to me as I know that meant that they were inspired.  :-)  That's really what its all about. Next month- pies! If anyone has questions, please ask as I'm happy to share. Blessings, Leslie http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KOF/618992/ Sat, 18 Oct 2008 20:01:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KOF/618992/                                  We met for the first time in September to study Herbs.  This is one of the badges for which we can earn a badge, but it isn't in the handbook.  That means that the teacher has to come up with a set of requirements that she feels would be appropriate for this badge.  We started with prayer and then a discussion on herbs.  We learned the different between herbs and spices.  I love it when I can learn something new along with my children!  Did you know that there was a difference? Herb - comes from the leafy part of the plant, can be a shrub but not a woody plant Spice - comes from the other parts of the plant (seed, berries, bark, root, fruit) Then the teacher gave a tour of her herb garden pointing out various plants and talking about their uses.  I was amazed at how much she was able to grow!  It was really neat. OK - the caterpillar didn't really have anything to do with the herbs other than he was enjoying living in them.  I just liked this picture.  lol Next the girls went inside and planted their own herbs.  They had cute little pots and could plan up to 6 different things.  They will grow (hopefully) these and later in the year we'll learn more about using herbs - both fresh and dried. Thanks Lea for the great class! Blessings, Leslie http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KOF/603115/ Sat, 11 Oct 2008 00:47:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KOF/603115/ We've made our plans for the upcoming year.  For our group we just meet once per month as our busy (and conflicting) schedules just don't permit meeting more often.  Here's what we have planned. Sept - Herbs.  We'll be planting and learning about herbs. Oct - Card making.  I'll be teaching this one and am looking forward to it.  Since it isn't one of the activities in the manual, I'll be coming up with my own requirements.  I'm hoping that the timing will be good in allowing the girls to make cards to send or to give for Christmas. Nov - Pie-baking.  Yum!  Just in time for the holidays!  We're hoping too that this will be something the girls want to practice on and bring to future meetings to share. Dec - Part 2 of herbs.  Taking the herbs we've grown and learning how to use them - in cooking, sachets and more. Jan - Storytelling.  Learning more about the art of storytelling and how to put it into practice by telling a variety of stories to both family and friends.  We'll so some sharing/ storytelling at future meetings. Feb -  Dollmaking,  Learning how to paint and embroider a face.  Learning how to make jointed legs/arms.  Learning how to make different types of hair. Mar - Part 2 of dollmaking.  The girls will have chosen the specifics of their doll and will start making it. Apr & May - We are holding open for a couple of options.  Either adding another class or recreational activity (I'm lobbying for badmitton) or finishing up projects we've already started. We are looking forward to a fun year! Blessings, Leslie http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KOF/597761/ Fri, 26 Sep 2008 16:01:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KOF/597761/ We started this group mid-year. I had heard about the group and thought it would be fun. For several years, my husband and oldest son worked on some of the badges. We thought it might be helpful to have some others join us in this adventure – for both accountability (actually making time to do the badge work!) and expertise (there are so many areas in which we have NO experience). We found 5 other families that were willing to join our group and began our planning in the Fall of 2004. We wanted this to be a co-operative effort so that the work was equally shared. Each parent agreed to teach one topic/class for the year. We started our meetings just after Christmas. These were our plans for that first year. We tried to choose topics in a variety of areas in the handbook. We decided to work on 2 topics with both boys and girls. When I start posting pictures, I’m sure I’ll have much more from the girls than the boys. Is that a surprise to anyone?  Meeting          Keepers Topic             Contenders Topic 1. January      Decoupage                  Knots 2. February     Embroidery                  First Aid 3. March         Butterflies                     Butterflies 4. April            Rubber Stamping         Propriety 5. May            Pets                             Camping 6. June           Croquet                       Croquet Blessings, Leslie http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KOF/527993/ Tue, 4 Jan 2005 12:33:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KOF/527993/ I'm inspired to put down some of the fun things we do for our Keepers group in a blog after visiting my friend Linda's blog on the same topic.  I thought I'd go back and add in our past years as I can.  This may take some time, but thought it might be fun and possibly helpful for others too. Blessings, Leslie http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KOF/527985/ Tue, 6 May 2008 12:30:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KOF/527985/