The Last Supper
For several years now I have been writing my own programs for children’s ministry. This is the first lesson I have published in order to share with you. I hope you enjoy the lesson. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to contact me!
Visit Cedar Tree Press to download the lesson!
This is a very special lesson that the children will love!
Science Experiments
Earlier this year, I talked a little about my Kinesthetic Learner. Realizing that I have a kinesthetic learner was an eye opener for me. Suddenly, I realized that all those lessons I have tried to teach for the last year or two were not what she really needed. Obviously, you can’t get away from workbooks and book work totally, but I have come up with a few things that I think will make this year better for both of us.
1. Explode the Code. She just had a terrible time sitting through the Teach Your Child to Read in 20 Easy Lessons book. As soon as we sat down with that book the wiggling began. On the second day of using Explode the Code a light bulb went off in my brain when she said, “Mom, I really like this book because I’m actually doing something.”
2. File Folder Games. I think that doing a lot of memory work will be easier if she can play a game at the same time. I hope!
3. Nature Walks. This child loves nature and nature walks are one of her favorite things.
4. Lots of Crafts. Keep her hands busy with educational crafts!
5. Science Experiments. She has begged me to do science experiments. In the past I have always put off doing experiments because they seem so time consuming and messy. This year I decided that as a reward on Fridays we will do science experiments. I am going to print out her lesson plan for the week and each time she completes her workbox lessons I will have her put a star or other sticker on the lesson plan. If she gets all of her stars we’ll do the experiment. Hopefully, this will be a great motivator!
I have found a few neat websites that have experiments for children:
We’ll see how things go. I have a lot of really fun things planned for this year!
Workbox Lesson Planner
Summer has been flying by! We have had so much going on, that I haven’t had much time for the computer. My two oldest girls are at horse camp this week and my 19 year old son has decided to move in with my mom and dad for the time being. So… this week, it’s just me and my husband along with our two youngest girls at home. It’s really been quiet.
So, with all of this quiet time… I have been catching up on all that laundry I got behind on during two weeks at campmeeting/ my two week bout of the flu/ten days in Atlanta/two weeks of company/and 1 week of VBS. I have also been deep cleaning my family room/homeschool room in preparation for the new school year. I have also been planning my curriculum for 2010-2011. I love planning for our school year!
I want to share my new Workbox Planner Form with you. It is simple, nothing fancy, but is what I am using this year. I do only have space for 10 boxes as that is what I am using. I hope you enjoy!
I let you know which books we’ll be using this coming year soon!
Home from Campmeeting
We arrived home around 3 am on Sunday night. I can’t tell you how good it felt to crawl into my own bed!
Campmeeting was wonderful – as always! We were gone for 14 days. I have been recuperating for the last three days catching up on sleep and housework. My husband and I teach the Primary class at our campmeeting. This year’s theme was “The Parables of Jesus.” We had sooo much fun! I was so excited during the Camp Pitch (setting up) that I couldn’t sleep for three nights straight! During one of those long nights I came up with my theme for next year! I am so excited I can’t believe I have to wait a whole year! We’ll be doing “The Church in the Wilderness” and learn about the Waldenses and different martyrs through the centuries. The set will be a medieval/ forest theme and we’ll wear medieval costumes.
Anyway, so for this year the set was a Bible Marketplace. It turned out even better than I had hoped. I really hated to tear it down!
Here are some photos of the finished set:
This is a picture of the “stone” building. It turned out so realistic looking!
Here is a photo of part of the “marketplace.” You can see the beautiful donkey cart that was built for me. My husband built the booths out of small tree trunks.
We had a food market in the donkey cart and the little table behind it. There was also a spice/herb shop and a basket shop. On the other side of the donkey cart is a blanket shop. My four girls painted the amazing “stone” floor for me and they even did the “stone” wall and sky on the backdrop!
This is a photo of the front of the room. The well has real water in it!
When the children first came in the room they walked right into this tent which housed the registration table.
We had a mountain and cave that the children had to walk through to get to the bathroom. We put a glowing purple light inside the cave.
Some of the highlights during the program – we learned the Jewish “Hora” dance.” The kids signed up for a “Talent Show” for the last Friday afternoon after learning the parable of “The Ten Talents.” On the last Friday night we had the parable of “The Wedding Feast.” Afterward we had a real Jewish Wedding feast. I spent the afternoon making:
Matzo Ball Soup
Lentils
Potato Latkes
A Wedding Cake
We had a blast working with kids. I am looking forward to next year!
Here is a slideshow of us setting up the stage. I took the photos, so you won’t see much of me!
Horse Club
Today was our 4-H Horse Club meeting. I was so sorry Sarah and Emily were gone and didn’t get to go! Hannah and Laura had a wonderful time! Here they are riding Train Wreck:
They even got to ride bareback for the very first time:
I think I found the perfect horse for my daughter Sarah. He is so gentle, well trained, and just gorgeous! He was a Wild Mustang from Nevada. I hope it works out!
A Year of Family Worship: Lessons in Nature
This past weekend we took our church youth group (Pathfinder Club) on a camp out. I love camping and enjoying the sights and sounds of nature. I love waking up to the fresh air and a warm campfire. I enjoy worshiping God outside – which made me think. If we can worship God outside on a camp out, why can’t we worship God outside for Family Worship?
Why not take your family outside in the backyard or even to a beautiful park on a Sabbath afternoon and sing songs of praise and other thoughtful activities? One of the requirements our Pathfinders had was to go out in “nature” and find three things that represented God.
Some of the things kids came back with:
- water – “Jesus is the Living Water”
- a rock – “Jesus is the Rock of our Salvation” or We should build our house on the “Solid Rock”
- a heart shaped Redbud leaf – “the heart of God” or “God’s love for each of us”
- a three leaf clover – “The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit”
- a vine – “He is the vine, we are the branches”
There are so many expressions of Christ in nature! This activity is fun for kids and adults of all ages. This week, when the weather is nice, why not go ahead and have Family Worship in the backyard and see how creative you can be finding the character of God all around you?
I am currently reading the book, Lessons Jesus Taught by Ellen White. Yesterday I read the following passage and felt it fit so well with this idea of worshiping in nature:
“So through the creation we are to become acquainted with the Creator. The book of nature is a great lesson book, which in connection with the Scriptures we are to use in teaching others of His character and guiding lost sheep back to the fold of God. As the works are studies the Holy Spirit flashes conviction into the mind…
We should study the Saviour’s parables where He spoke them, in the fields and groves, under the open sky, among the grass and flowers. As we come close to the heart of nature Christ makes His presence real to us, and speaks to our hearts of His peace and love.
And Christ has linked His teaching, not only with the day of rest, but with the week of toil. He has wisdom for him who drives the plow and sows the seed. In the plowing and sowing, the tilling and reaping, He teaches us to see an illustration of His work or grace in the heart. So in every line of useful labor and every association of life, He desires us to find a lesson of divine truth. Then our daily toil will no longer absorb our attention and lead us to forget God; it will continually remind us of our Creator and Redeemer. The thought of God will run like a thread of gold through all our homely cares and occupations… We shall ever be learning new lessons of heavenly truth, and growing into the image of His purity.”
Isn’t that what we all desire? To see the face of God, to feel His presence all around us? Teach your children about the Creator. In doing so, you will both be drawn closer to Him.
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Each Wednesday, we will add a new post for A Year of Family Worship and you can do the same. Share your goals, experiences, and ideas for family worship with the rest of us!
If you don’t have a blog, you can add your comments in the comment section! You can join A Year of Family Worship here. And you can see the 52 Weeks of Family Worship here.
If you do not have a blog… you can either post your ideas here in the comments or even join our Proverbs 31 Sisters Network and get a free blog that way!
Another Homemaker’s Find…
I came across this delightful Recipe Keeper today illustrated by Susan Branch.The Berenstain Bears Discover God’s Creation: Book Review
The Berenstain Bears Discover God’s Creation
by Stan and Jan Berenstain with Mike Berenstain
I remember nights snuggled up next to my mother for the bedtime story. My usual pick was one of our many Berenstain Bears titles. I loved the Berenstain Bears! As a mother now, I am often reading aloud stories that my own children pull off the bookshelf. More often than naught, I am reading a beloved Berenstain Bears book at bedtime.
One of the things I have always loved about this series of books, is that each one has a lesson to be learned. The books are sweet and charming and fun. Kids just naturally love them! And moms can feel good about what they are reading.
The back of the book tells us…
Mama Bear pulls the plug on TV, and the Bear cubs are upset! What are they going to do now? All it takes is a peek outside for Brother and Sister to see that God has given them a beautiful world that is far more fun than the TV screen.
The Berenstain Bears Discover God’s Creation is no different. Published by Zonderkidz, this delightful little hardback book is filled with engaging prose. Mama Bear begins the book saying:
“It seems to me, you cubs watch much too much TV!”
I love that! I am one of those moms who severely limits my kids television viewing. And every afternoon that the sun is shining, I tell the kids to go outside. I want them to experience God’s creation on a daily basis and appreciate the gifts of nature. I think Mama Bear is pretty wise!
She continues (after the cubs protest) saying:
“Watching all that TV slush will surely turn your brain to mush. I will not argue. You have no vote. I will keep the TV remote.”
Mama Bear gets my vote! I actually keep our TV remote up all the time. The kids have to have specific permission to turn on the TV. This book will encourage your family to watch less TV and get outside more. If you have young children like I do, this book is surely one for the bookshelf.
Happy Arbor Day!
Each Tuesday on A Virtuous Woman you can find a great list of Homeschool Freebies! Today is no different!
Seeing as today is Arbor Day, I have a number of great “tree” themed finds for you. Perfect for studying all month!
I took my four girls down to the courthouse here in Harlan today where they were passing out free trees. We were given a number of saplings:
5 persimmon trees
2 black walnut trees
1 pawpaw tree
I hope to get these in the ground tomorrow! The girls were excited about the trees. The saplings were pretty small and it will take years for them to reach maturity, but it will be fun to watch them grow and take note of the changes they make over the years.
Happy Arbor Day!
A Day in Nature
Okay, so on Friday morning (last week) I took my daughter, Laura, to speech therapy. Hannah was with us, too. the parking lot was really full so we had to park quite a ways from the building. I pulled into a parking spot and there was a tree right in front of the car. Hannah says, “Mom, look! There’s a robin sitting on a nest!”
Sure, enough, there was a mommy robin sitting on a nest! We got out of the car, very excited. The nest was just above my eye level. The robin was startled when we got out of the car and she flew away. I couldn’t see into the nest and didn’t want to touch it, but I did hold my cell phone up above the nest and took a photo. There were no eggs on Friday.
So, this morning, we went back to speech and since we were running a little late, we didn’t stop to look at the robin’s nest until after the appointment. On our way back to the car (I brought my camera for the occasion!) we saw the mommy robin again sitting on her nest:
I stepped up on the curb (about 4 feet from the tree) and she was again startled and jumped up out of her nest, but stayed very close by on a branch. I held my camera up and took another photo, and this is what we found:
Are those not the prettiest little eggs you’ve ever seen??? We can hardly wait to see babies!
You know how much we love all of God’s creation – even snakes. But birds are just about our favorite. That is, if you don’t count horses.
This afternoon, we saddled, er, Emily saddled Ladybelle for the first time. (I took the photos.) Isn’t Ladybelle beautiful?? We lover her!
Side Note: In case you are wondering where my other daughter, Sarah, was… well, she is staying at our Middlesboro Church with a group of young people who came to work in the community doing literature evangelism (magabooking, canvasing). She loves the work! I am so proud of her. And in case you are a member in the Kentucky-Tennessee Conference, be sure to check out this month’s Connection newsletter – Sarah has an article in it!!
Anyway, while we were up with the horses, I took a photo of the apple tree. Wow, look at those blossoms! I hope we get that many apples!
: Download the Spring 2010 Issue :
