Tea Cups in the Garden

• Nov. 27, 2007 - How We Start Our School Day

Posted in Homeschooling

As many other homeschoolers do, we start our day with devotions. This has been the most fun to our day…spiritually rewarding, interesting and fun! We’ve been known to get so immersed in our Bible study, that we forget the time and realize we should be in the middle of math!

 

When my children were toddlers, my son was very sick and we did not go to church anymore. I bought the Betty Lukens flannelgraph set and proceeded to use that to teach Bible stories to my children. I’d start with the first story of the Old Testament, gradually working our way through the Bible, trying to work in the Christmas and Easter story seasonally. Of course, Noah’s Ark was one of our first stories. While Noah and his family were rocking around with the animals on stormy seas, I spent time on that point. We talked about how we got scared during thunderstorms and tornado warnings (at the time we lived in the middle of tornado alley). We talked about how Noah and his family must have felt. We talked about how God had not abandoned them. God used that story, and a small German print of an angel helping 2 children safely cross a bridge during a storm, to teach my 3yod to trust God during a storm. Our nighttime wakings to calm our children during storms had ended.

 

In the last couple of years, I put away the flannelgraph, since I felt my children were ready for more meat. They get excellent Bible teaching at our church, and they were ready for this next step. About that time, we added Tapestry of Grace to our curriculum, which includes Bible survey throughout year 1 while studying Ancient World History. Last year we practically read through most of the Bible, learning in context with world history and literature and geography and our understanding of the Bible exploded. Last spring we summarized the New Testament by reading the book of Luke and Acts. This year, as we’ve been studying Year 2 Middle Ages to the birth of America, I have decided to pick up with Paul’s letters sequentially, as he wrote them to the various churches. So far we have studied Galatians, I and II Thessalonians, James and I Corinthians. Sometimes we spend time on one verse and other times we take a quick survey through a chapter, depending on how the Spirit leads us. 14yod had just completed James in her Sunday School class when we started James, but to her surprise, there were some new points that I had been taught over the years that were new to her. In turn, she shared some of her excellent notes on what she had been taught in class. She asked if she could write notes on the white board to share some of what Mr. K had taught in James. That was a thrill to have dd teach/share during our devotions.

 

The green ink is mine and the purple ink is dd's.

When newletters from various missionaries come through the e-mail, I save them for our devotions. Yesterday morning we got a tour through Thessalonika from a brother and sister in Christ, whom my children got to meet a year ago. The missionary influence is huge in our church, so my children are used to that. But to have been invited to share a dinner as this missionary couple were passing through our town last year, was novel to our children.

 

Here are some of the pictures they sent.  This is Thessalonika...

Here is the Roman Forum, where Paul may have preached...

Here is Mount Olympus...

 

We always end with a hymn. Last year when we did the Ancients, I pulled Scripture and a weekly hymn that would point us to what God had to say in view of the week’s study of the culture. For example, when learning about the blood-letting Mayans, we studied verses about the necessity of the blood of Christ to save us from our sins. That was followed by a hymn, such as "Are You Washed in the Blood?" I had always taken verses and hymns on Christ shedding His blood for granted. Juxtaposing Christ’s work with the Mayans’ pointless blood-letting, allowed me to see Christ’s effective work for me in a more meaningful way.

 

This year, since we have been studying Church history, we have been pulling out hymns from the Middle Ages to learn. Some we already knew, we just didn’t realize the origins! We are using Then Sings My Soul: 150 of the World’s Greatest Hymn Stories by Robert J. Morgan. In glancing ahead, I have seen that it doesn’t tell the entire story of the poignant hymn, "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing". Nevertheless, this book lists the hymns sequentially so that is a good starting off point, which can lead to further research.

 

Now that Christmas is nearing, we are using a book I purchased a couple of years ago, Come Let Us Adore Him: Stories Behind the Most Cherished Christmas Hymns by Robert J. Morgan…hmmmmm, the same author! I just saw that! LOL These are also listed sequentially. We started yesterday and I am turning it into a guessing game. If the song is known, I think I’ll read the story behind it and then play the notes and have them name that tune! Today’s tune was unknown, but I knew they could figure out the composer. I gave the year and then played the tune. We talked about how it’s not a familiar tune. Nevertheless ds noted there were elements to the tune that reminded him of "A Mighty Fortress is our God" and guessed Martin Luther! Correct!

Post A Comment! :: Send to a Friend!

• Nov. 27, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by 4sweetums
Wow! I am going to have to read this entry more carefully later. I just passed on an award to you.
If it is not the first entry on my blog it is the second.
Blessings,
4sweetums
Permanent Link

• Nov. 27, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by icecastle
We love to do devotionals in the mornings, too. My six year old gets really involved and asks many questions. It's great!
I have viewed a friend's TOG binder and was impressed. I think that we will go with that curriculum when my son is a few years older.
Thanks for posting those photos. They are nice! I showed them to my oldest. His reaction was, "Cool! Have we ever been there? That's really far away, isn't it? Can we go there?", ad infinitum. (lol)

Permanent Link

• Nov. 28, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Anonymous
How wonderful that your dc are making so many connections between history and the Bible!! You are so good at tying in your biblical studies to whatever you are studying in history (and I know that TOG year 1 does a good job of that too). Loved this post!

Blessings,
Pam
Permanent Link

• Nov. 29, 2007 - You are full of great ideas!

Posted by PosterGirl
I think the idea for the hymns to tie in with what we're learning is just beautiful! I will definitely be keeping my eyes open for this. Thanks so much for sharing.
Kim
Permanent Link

About Me

Gardens thrill my soul. My senses awaken, my soul is refreshed, my mood calms down...and if given time for quiet ponder, I've enjoyed the sound of buzzing bees while collecting pollen, the delightful croak of shy Mr. Toad, the exuberant flutter a hummingbird near my face thanking me for scrumptious flowers, and the gentle touch of the butterfly who settles on my shoulder. I've been known to walk into the house with my hair showered in lavender crepe myrtle blossoms and my clothes covered in blue plumbago blooms. Picture a rustic wrought iron bistro set with floral cushions and gingham pillows under a crepe myrtle dripping in blooms. I've set out some tea. Come and sit with me while I catch you up on the latest of the happenings in my family. Welcome to my garden.




Categories

Awanas
Books
Christmas
Colorado
Dallas geTOGether 2008
Family
Gardens
Geography
Homeschooling
House Remodel
Latin
Math
Ministry
Nature Journaling
New Mexico
New Years
Organization
Piano
Pot Pourri
Quilts
Recipes
Science
Sensory Integration
Sewing
Spelling
Spiritual Life
Tea
Texas
Tapestry of Grace
TOG Y1U1
TOG Y1U2
TOG Y1U3
TOG Y1U4
TOG Y2U1
TOG Y2U2
TOG Y2U3
TOG Y2U4
Writing


Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket



Links

Home
View my profile
Archives
Email Me
My Blog's RSS



Summer Curriculum

Typing Instructor for Kids
The Phonics of Drawing
Linguistic Development Through Poetry Memorization
Charlotte Mason/Classical style science
Piano


Bookworm Time

15yod-The Voyage of Patience Goodspeed
12yos-The Amazing Story of Creation from Science and the Bible


2007-2008 Curriculum for dd-15

A Beka Math-8
National Spelling Bee
Latin Road to English Grammar Book II
Exploring Creation with Physical Science
Tapestry of Grace, Year 2 Unit 4
Institute for Excellence in Writing
Piano


2007-2008 Curriculum for ds-12

A Beka Math-6
National Spelling Bee
The Bridge to the Latin Road
Charlotte Mason/Classical style science
Tapestry of Grace, Year 2 Unit 4
Institute for Excellence in Writing
Piano


Current Read Aloud

St.George for England by GA Henty AD 1340


Books on My Nightstand

Hope Again: When Life Hurts and Dreams Fade
by Charles Swindoll

A Charlotte Mason Companion:
Personal Reflections on the
Gentle Art of Learning
by Karen Andreola

Words of Delight: A Literary Introduction to the Bible by Leland Ryken

Friends

JillNovak
NCLighthouseKeeper
MyChildrenAndMe
Momof5littlewomen
KayinMaine
PosterGirl
andijeane
MamaDuke
AussieinAmerica
ApplesofGold
Lori
NotebookingPages
kellieann
SongOfTheSagebrush
BChsMamaof3
gardenbunny
ctnjm324
MichelleMyBell
4sweetums
proverbsmomof3
gnjlopez
jkestes
advancedmaternalage
icecastle
NatureNotesFromAbove
MayTheyBeMightyMen
coxkids






Graphic Credits





Awards











Fun





Free Samples







Entry 138 of 229
Last Page | Next Page