Category: Homeschooling

Cheerios as Manna

Posted on by Becky

School was running late. The kids were restless and getting hungry. And the Bible lesson was on God’s faithfulness to the Israelites through providing daily manna.

Who knew that Cheerios as manna and little squares of construction paper folded for tents would be such a hit with the kids? and would speak to my heart too?

073-001

As a homeschool K-5 teacher, I love teaching Bible most of all. There is always something in the Bible lesson for me, even though I may have heard it a dozen times.

In today’s lesson the people of Israel complained to Moses, fearful that they would die of hunger. God’s people had forgotten His miraculous way of rescuing them from the land of Egypt. They had forgotten His faithful leading with the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. They were not remembering His daily provision for every single one of their needs.

God again showed His power through His promise to send manna, a special bread from heaven, every morning and quail each evening for dinner.

God is always faithful to me. God has proved Himself in my life many times–even miraculously. Yet I doubt. I worry. I’m afraid. I don’t trust Him.

As I read today’s BJ Press K-5 lesson, I think it was as much for me as it was for my kids. “God has promised to give us everything we need to live for Him. He wants us to trust Him. God is always faithful to keep His promises to us. He always knows what we need. Sometimes just like the Israelites, we forget God’s promises to us.”

God promises to give me everything I need.

He wants me to trust Him.

God is always faithful to keep His promises.

He always knows what I need.

. . .

Sometimes I forget His promises.

I ate Cheerios with my kids and remembered.

We closed with the song, “When I Am Afraid, I put my trust in You. I will trust in God and not be afraid.” (Ps. 56:3)

I’m so thankful for the opportunity to teach my kids Bible–and at the same time, to rest in these truths as God uses Cheerios to gently remind my heart too of His faithfulness to His promises.

Ninety-seven, ninety-eight. . . ONE HUNDRED!

Posted on by Becky

Yesterday, while Mara was reviewing her 1 – 20 cards, she decided to keep counting. . . and counting . . . and counting. . .

By the time she counted to “58, 59. . . SIXTY!” I could see the little wheels in her head spinning and it was obvious that counting “ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, seventy. . .” had finally “clicked” in her little mind!

She kept going until she reached “One hundred!” and she had counted perfectly!

What an exciting moment! Mara jumped off her stool and began shouting, “I can count to one hundred! Let’s call Daddy right now and tell him I can count to one hundred!”

Daniel has been very busy at work this week,  so I knew that wouldn’t work out. But when he got home that night, she greeted him, “Daddy!!!! Guess what?! I can count to one hundred!”

And she did. Right then!

She counted for Daniel exactly as she had for me, right up until “Ninety-seven, ninety-eight. . .” and in her excitement, she completely skipped over “ninety-nine,” and shouted, “ONE HUNDRED!!!” Of course, leaping and jumping in the air. We were both laughing with delight.

The next day she told me she was going to write all the numbers from one to one hundred  on the white erase board. She tried to quit a couple of times, but I encouraged her to stick it out. She is weaker on her number-writing than letter-writing, so I thought it would be good practice. She also reversed several of her numbers and transposed others. For example, on the “70’s” line, she had written “70 17 27 37 47 57 67 77 87 97,” so I had her re-write that line. I think all this will work itself out as she gets more practice.

After “100,” she decided to one-up herself and write the numbers by hundreds up to “900.” She was quite pleased with herself. “Look! I wrote from 1 to 900!”

One of the joys of homeschooling is getting to be there and see her delight as she learns each new concept and skill!

Firefighters: Snack of the Week

Posted on by Becky

One thing I love about the BJU Press Curriculum is that it offers such a variety of activities and craft ideas and resources–even a snack idea to to along with each unit study.

The snack of the week is definitely one of the highlights for my kids!

This week it was a fire engine made of graham crackers with red frosting on top. Stick pretzels make the ladder; vanilla wafers for wheels, and gumdrops/marshmallows for the lights.

Warning: This snack is VERY messy!!!

But SO. Much. Fun.

 

 

Lesson 2: Favorite Colors

Posted on by Becky

Lesson 2 was on favorite colors.

The kids loved it. It was more like “activity time” than “school,” really. Maybe kindergarten is like that? (I actually don’t know, since I never went!)

The science activity was color mixing. I gave each of the kids a couple of clear glasses of water, and we got to experiment with different color combinations. Carissa, 2, joined in the activity time too. Even though these activities and concepts are very basic–stuff they already know, I’m happy that the kids are looking forward school and excited to do more. (Besides, this is only Lesson 2!)

 

Afterwards, the kids picked their favorite of the colors we had used, and then named something that was that color. Predictably, Micah chose yellow and said “paints” were yellow. Carissa of course chose orange “kittens.” And Mara picked purple and red, since pink was not an option, and she thought of butterflies.

It was a little anti-climactic for the kids though. They were sure we were going to dye Easter eggs, but all we did was color the water. . .

After that, Mara and Micah colored their worksheets according to the directions. It was interesting to see how Micah could color deliberately within the lines, but when he got tired of “school,” his coloring was so much messier. (Note the pink of the ears–staying in the lines.)

He was quite pleased when he finished.

 

Micah took a picture of Mara’s worksheet, so I decided to include it here too.

Lesson 2 introduces the Vick Family, characters in the stories that are read throughout the entire school year. Micah especially liked “Josh,” Kate’s three-year-old little brother. I think Micah can relate to little Josh.

All in all, it was a good day of school!