Starting With Thanks This Week:
Thank you, Father, for...
...creative kids
...homeschooling
...wonderful devotionals
...children maturing in the Lord
...a mother (that's me) maturing in the Lord
...sibling laughter
...homemade wheat bread
...green surrounding us all around
...the Lord never leaving us spiritually stagnant
...good online friends
...a new homeschooling friend from church; hiking plans with her family
...hope, love, strength, courage
...good books
...the comfort of the Word
...your faithfulness in providing our every need
...an evangelist among my children
...comfort during affliction
Activities This Week
Paul created a program on Khan Academy that involved moving segments of rain and lightning. How excited he was over this accomplishment!
Among many other things this week, Beth made an airplane out of items she stole from the recycling bin outside. She single-handedly destroys our house with her myriad of creative messes. I know she is definitely dyslexic: this is what her mind compels her to do right now--design and create 3-dimensional artwork. I champion her efforts and her end products, while at the same time privately lamenting the messes and the tape expenditure. She uses a dispenser of tape about every 2 days!
She also uses much of the old fabric I gave the kids to cut up for sewing projects. There are literally scraps of fabric in every room of our house! Deep breath, Momma. God has given her these talents and it would be just plain wrong to complain about the messes. Recently, I've decided to walk alongside her and help clean them up, until she's older. At six, she still needs this support.
Paul, with Beth's help, made a dragon out of a grocery bag.
Beth does puzzles oftentimes while waiting for me to get to her reading lesson, which follows her sister's reading time.
Mary is working on /oa/ here. All About Reading Level 3 is far harder so we'll be going through it at a slower pace. There are several sounds she is still working on memorizing and I can't frustrate her by moving forward at this time. These are troublesome for her: /oa/, /ow/,/ ou/, /aw/, /au/
Mary, one of my nature observers, found this sparrow egg on the ground under our bird box, and Peter put it back in for them.
 |
AWANA AWARDS 2015
Peter, top left, participation ribbon for Trek
Beth, bottom left, first book award for Sparkies
Mary, center, Sparky plaque and the year she says goodbye to Sparks club, to become a T&T clubber come Sept.
Paul, right, with the third T&T book award. Next year he earns the Timothy Award!
Peter wasn't in Trek earlier this year, but we moved to a new church in March and its AWANA offered Trek for grades 7 and 8. They are allowing Peter to finish the first Trek book over the summer, so he'll be eligible for the Meritorious Award after the 8th grade year. The Timothy and Meritorious Awards make students eligible for Bible college scholarships. Plus, the books they complete help them with their relationships with Christ during the very challenging adolescent years.
In Other News
Beth developed a sinus infection so we had to skip her Orencia infusion at the hospital (a juvenile rheumatoid arthritis drug). Paul's tree pollen allergies make him want to gauge his eyes out this time of year. Every spring my heart just aches for him! It's a long five to six weeks, even with allergy eye drops. And Hubby is suffering as well, even with allergy shots going on currently.
Meanwhile, summer arrived early. The girls are running through the sprinkler to cool off today. Core H Sonlight News (World History, Part 2)
I read enough of this mystery to know that I don't want my boys to read it. It just isn't edifying, so we'll skip it, regardless of the Japanese history featured in it. I love Sonlight very much and will likely use it through the 12th grade, but every year there is at least one book that makes me wonder...what were they thinking? Don't let that discourage you, though, because they offer many, many titles that we absolutely love and will remember fondly for a very long time .
Last week I preread Out of Many Waters by Jacqueline Dembar Greene, which is supposed to be a read-aloud for Core H. I loved it and felt my boys could definitely handle it on their own. They're currently reading it and loving it, finding it riveting.
Overview: Kidnapped from her parents during the Portuguese Inquisition, 12-year old Isobel BenLazar was sent to work as a slave at a remote Brazilian monastery. In 1654, Isobel escapes and stows away on a ship bound for Amsterdam, searching for her family. But harrowing adventures lead her to the first group of Jews to settle in America.
"Weaves history, drama and narrative into an arresting story." -New York Times Book Review
"An uplifting story built upon twin themes long common to Jewish thought-hope and deliverance." -Kirkus Reviews
Sydney Taylor Honor Book; New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age
K and Second Grade News
I have most of the Core B books for my girls, but we're behind on the read-alouds. I hope to get back to those this weekend and finish them throughout these next four to six months (we school year round).
The girls continue with Saxon Math and All About Reading, Levels 1 (Beth) and 3 (Mary). Mary is doing some All About Spelling Level 1, and Beth is doing an Explode the Code book until she fits in better with All About Spelling.
Morning Devotional News
We finished all of the Miller Family Series and we're almost done with A Hive of Busy Bees, which we're loving.
Overview: Don and Joyce are invited to spend the summer with their grandparents at the farm. Each day presents exciting opportunities for them to experience outdoor farm life--so different from the city--especially the first day when they encounter a hive of angry bees. From this episode grandma chooses stories from her scrapbook and skillfully develops some character lessons for each evening's bedtime BEESTORY.
Contents: Bee Obedient; Bee Honest; Bee Truthful; Bee Kind; Bee Polite; Bee Gentle; Bee Helpful; Bee Careful; Bee Grateful; Bee Loving; Bee Accepted; Bee Confident; Bee Content. Recommended for ages 5 to 10. 
We loved this book so much that we have the sequel on order, pictured above.
Overview: Danny and Debbie, like their cousins, decide they want to spend some vacation time on the farm with their grandparents. For children who have only know city life, each day presents exciting opportunities for them to experience new situations--especially the first day, when they encounter a hive of angry bees. From this episode grandma chooses stories from her scrapbook and skillfully develops some character lessons for each evening's bedtime BEESTORY.
Writing News
Writing is going well, with Mary being independent in her journal now, and the boys writing excellent entries as well, mostly in response to literature, but with some free-write days in there too.
Paul wrote an acrostic poem, and a May poem:
M other's Day
A llergies
Y ellow dandelions
F lowers
U seless weeds
N ow time to plant
May
Now it's May,
The season's gay.
Pull the weeds,
Sow the seeds.
Lawn has grown,
It's time to mow.
The thunders boom,
Stay in the your room.
The weather's nice,
For a cup of ice.
The baseball bat,
don't forget your hat.
Now it's May
the season's gay.
June is near,
Is that what I hear?
On the blog this week:
How was your week, friends? Thank you for visiting here. Happy Mother's Day!
|
2 comments:
Looks like a fun week. I can't believe it is that warm already. We are still dressing warm. We have had some warm days but it hasn't stayed around. I am not ready to put away warm clothing.
It is just a heat wave, I believe. It should be back to the normal 60's and 70's for May by late next week. I am not a summer person, so I am grateful this will pass soon.
Good to hear from you, Beth!
Post a Comment